WHO IS MODOR ?
Modor is a small brand that designs and builds innovative digital synthesizers, the builders of the NF-1 synth and the DR-2 drum synth. Modor builds big, hands-on and inspiring creativity machines, aimed to all kinds of electronic music. Modor Music is based in Belgium.
MARCEL BELMANS
Marcel Belmans (°1978) is the designer of Modor's music machines.
As a teenager in the 90's, he was already making electronic music. He was building his own effect gear and tried to build his own software synths. Because he didn't have the money to buy the real stuff, but most important, because it's fun!
He studied for construction engineer, but after working in a few different jobs, he realised he needed to go where his heart is: electronic music.
As a construction engineer, he has broad general math and engineering skills, but never received in-depth training in electronics and digital signal processing (DSP). However, this disadvantage is turned into an advantage.
Self-teaching and lots, lots and lots of trial-and-error, often results in things that are different from the typical textbook solutions a highly skilled DSP engineer would come up with. So, our engineering may be a little unorthodox at times, but at Modor, we only use our ears to judge!
MODOR'S DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
There are a few guidelines and principles we keep in mind for ourselves while designing new stuff, as a help to take the right decisions and to judge between good and bad ideas.
BIG, HANDS-ON HARDWARE
First of all, we want our instruments to be hands-on hardware machines. Everything you need regularly is easily accessible on the front panel, and the workflow is easy and clear. Your creativity and fun won't be interrupted by menu diving or by trying to remember how things were supposed to work. We want our machines to be inspirational, we want to see you carried away by the fun of creating your own sounds.
RECOGNIZABLE AND YET INNOVATIVE
We try to create new, innovative things. You will find enough recognizable things on our machines to get you going, but some uncommon things like a formant filter on the NF-1(m) or some of the drum algorithms of the DR-2 will surprise you and make it easy to get yourself a special, distinct sound from your Modor machine.
NOT TOO MUCH...
We don't overwhelm you with too many features. You won't find yourself scrolling in hundreds of options in the hopes of stumbling upon something that sounds good. That's our job, we spend at least a serious part of our days deliberating on how to reduce the hundreds of possibilities to only a handful of real good choices.
This may sound very wrong: "We offer you very little options!", but it's not. Limiting the options allows you to really get to know your instrument, so you're able to imagine the way to go from a sound in your head to a real sound, allowing you to work and play focused.
IT'S BELGIAN
Next to all this: it's Belgian! Not only our design is Belgian, but also all possible parts of the manufacturing are done by Belgian subcontractors, from the production of the metal enclosures to circuit board assembly.
This allows us to keep close contact with the manufacturers, further ensuring professional build quality. But it's also a choice for reducing the number of kilometres our parts have to travel, and for fair working conditions for the people who do the actual manufacturing.
The final assembly steps are done in our own workshop in Antwerp, Belgium.
